Undocumented immigrants greet policy with cheers, tears

Iris Barboza pretended to sleep when she was brought to this country illegally from Mexico at age 7 in a car filled with people she didn't know, separated from her family.

Nine years later, the memory still fills her with fear.

Iris, a student with a 3.8 grade-point-average who tutors kids in math and reading, is a junior at Summit High School in Phoenix. She dreams of becoming a nurse and studying at Arizona State University.

But one thing stands between Iris and her aspirations: She remains an undocumented immigrant.

"My status isn't helping me succeed," said Iris, one of seven children. "I want to make my family proud."

Although Iris' legal status will not change, President Barack Obama's Friday executive order resembling the Dream Act could alleviate her fear of deportation.

Under the new policy, effective immediately, undocumented immigrants who can prove they came to the country at age 15 or younger and already have lived here at least five consecutive years, have no criminal background and are in school or are high-school graduates would be allowed to stay in the country without fear of being deported. But they would not be given legal status. And they would have to seek renewal of their deferred status every two years.

"This is what I've been waiting for. ... People like me are finally being helped," Iris said. Iris' father, brother and sister were already in the U.S. when she, her mother, two brothers and sister crossed the border. In transport, Iris was separated from her family, but they were reunited in the U.S.

News of the policy change spread like wildfire Friday among the hundreds of thousands of undocumented young people who may qualify for the deferred action.

Erika Andiola, 24, was in Washington, D.C., planning to participate in a protest outside the White House on Monday with other undocumented young people.

She said she was asleep in her hotel room when her cellphone lit up with a barrage of text messages and Twitter alerts.

"I thought something must be going on," Andiola said.

Andiola graduated from ASU in 2009. She has been living in the Phoenix area since she was brought to this country illegally when she was 11.

"We knew this was possible," said Andiola, who has participated in numerous rallies in Phoenix and Washington, D.C., in support of the change. "We have been trying to convince the administration that it was possible."

But many undocumented immigrants believe this is just a first step.

"This is a great beginning, but it's not the end," said Daniela Cruz, a 20-year-old graduate of Paradise Valley Community College.

Cruz was one of at least 50 people gathered at the Dream Act Coalition headquarters Friday to celebrate. The group also watched and cheered as Obama delivered remarks in the Rose Garden to discuss the details of the new policy.

An anxious air filled the standing-room-only area. People smiled, laughed and hugged as tears of joy wet the corners of their eyes.

One 11-year-old girl stood beaming in the front of the room, proudly wearing a royal-blue graduation gown.

Among the crowd was Jhannyn Rivera, 22, remembering her family's struggle before entering the United States.

Her parents were servers and couldn't afford to send both her and her brother to a private school in Mexico. So, they crossed the border illegally in search of education and financial opportunity.

Rivera remembers the crossing with her mother and brother vividly. It was cold and dark. Her mother warned the then-8-year-old Jhannyn to be quiet and not to get tired. There was no stopping.

She didn't care. She was going to see her father, and that was all she cared about.

The education opportunities her parents sought, however, were suffocated by her immigration status. Rivera dreamed of attending ASU with her friends, but she could not apply for scholarships or receive in-state tuition because she is undocumented.

"I was accepted and went to orientation. ... But, in the summer of 2008, right before I entered (college), I realized I couldn't afford it and enrolled in Glendale Community College," Rivera said.

Higher tuition rates for undocumented students at Arizona's three public universities may not change with Obama's policy, but it could help Rivera start her own business, something she has always dreamed of doing.

"I'd like to design bouquets, but instead of flowers, use fruit," Rivera said.

Arizona public universities and community colleges began requiring students to prove their citizenship after state voters passed Proposition 300, a ballot initiative that prevents undocumented students from getting in-state tuition rates and state-funded financial aid.

Supporters of the initiative said state taxpayers shouldn't subsidize college tuition and financial aid for people who are in the country illegally.

On Friday, Katie Paquet, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Board of Regents, said that a regents attorney did not think the policy would have an effect on tuition rates but indicated that they still needed to analyze the full policy to make a final determination.

Non-resident rates can more than double the tuition Arizona residents pay at state universities, which is why Tim Kane, a history teacher at Summit High School, said many students don't graduate from high school.

"A lot of kids aren't living up to what they could be doing and drop out because their chances are dismal out there," Kane said. "It's hard to say to a student, 'You're doing well and I want you to go to school, but it's a little more difficult for you.'"

Daniel Rodriguez, 26, didn't know he was an undocumented immigrant until he turned 15 and prepared to get his driver's license. His sister informed him he couldn't get one in Arizona. He was not a citizen or legal resident. He said his mother left Mexico with him and his two sisters when he was 6 to escape a domestic-violence situation.

He went on to graduate from high school and earned bachelor's degrees in English literature and political science from ASU in 2008.

He attended a year of law school but left because he couldn't afford the higher out-of-state tuition rates.

Since leaving school, he has worked as a translator and has been active in grass-roots efforts to support passage of the Dream Act.

He broke down in "happy tears" when he heard the announcement on Friday. He plans to finish law school.

"For me, it's also a validation that we are American without papers," he said.

Rodriguez said that change in immigration policy is a good step but that supporters plan to continue to work to expand the benefits to older families who have roots in communities and have been paying taxes.

"It would be unfair not to offer them relief, as well," he said.

Rodriguez said supporters spent Friday celebrating their efforts and plan to reflect today on what the change means.

"Sunday, we're going to pray, and Monday, we're going to get back to work," he said.